99+ seats in 73-87 chime in

[modular93fox]

alright, i dont like bench seats. now that ive gotten that off my chest, i want to know if anyone here has put those style seats in our trucks. before i sold my 01 with the nice cloth seats, i tried it (stock brackets and all) and it sat way to high. im 6'6" and thats a big problem. i didnt look under the seat to see what can be done, but im sure something can be done. i think the bucket seats will give the truck a whole new feel. with the bench seat i feel like im gona be thrown out the truck if i dont go 10mph around a 20mph turn ;) anyway if you got some pictures, or personal experience chime in.
later
clint

[FordeatinZ71]

you can adapt pretty much any seats to this truck. they came with factory buckets, so that is an option. here are some pics i've collected in my searchings...

these are factory buckets...
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c159/leese0924/78_c20_042.jpg

these are an aftermarket set from JC Whitney
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c159/leese0924/2340163_13_full.jpg

and these are TAURUS seats to give you an idea as to how adaptable these trucks really are...you are only limited by your imagination...if you can tackle a 5.3 Vortec install into an '87 Silverado then you can put frikkin Yugo seats in your truck if you'd like to.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c159/leese0924/bikepics-1079724-800.jpg

[bowtieguy79]

To make life easy on your self, look for second row seats from a crew cab truck, tahoe or sub. I purchased a seat from an 01 with intentions of making it fit, like I'd done in the past to a Dodge truck seat in another truck. The brackets on the 01 seat where more complex than I wanted to deal with. I have an 03 Tahoe, the rears could easily be modified to set in a 73-87.

[85-bowtie]

I'm trying to figure out the same exact thing with 00 Silverado seats into my 85, so far it's not going too well.

[FordeatinZ71]

To make life easy on your self, look for second row seats from a crew cab truck, tahoe or sub. I purchased a seat from an 01 with intentions of making it fit, like I'd done in the past to a Dodge truck seat in another truck. The brackets on the 01 seat where more complex than I wanted to deal with. I have an 03 Tahoe, the rears could easily be modified to set in a 73-87.


yea, but the second rows are a bench, that's what he's trying to get away from...

[modular93fox]

yup. im wanting more side support.. makes for more sporty and more.. umm.. smoother ride. the factory seat i have in here now is really "flufy" and it feels like no other. the "stiffer" new style seat fells better, but im hoping i can do some testing over x-mas break. my dad has a work truck that has the seats i want, so i will see if i can persuade him in 2 letting me into.. :)
maybe some pix will come out of that...
clint

[bowtieguy79]

Good point, most hoe's burbs and crews have bench second row. My brother has an 06 burb that has second row captians chairs. Found a link that shows a NNBS burb and hoe. Does show pictures of second row buckets. http://wikicars.org/en/Chevrolet_Tahoe

[Egg]

How about an 86 seat in a 89?

[FordeatinZ71]

should go in without much of an issue...

[Koots]

Is it possible to swap out the brackets from the old seats and adapt them to the newer style, or is everything different?

Cuz it would be a helluva lot easier to modify the seat brackets rather than modifying the floor pan, like you might be looking in to. but it's hard to say without having either vehicle near me for reference.

[modular93fox]

yeah, im not too sure about the seat brackets, but i have 2 ideas and one just has to work.
option one:
make the bucket seat on a bench style frame. it would make mounting the seats really easy.
option two:
use both bench seat brackets on one seat and figure out how to mount the middle saddle seat. only thing i dont like about that one is it would require 8 more holes in the floor pan.
i will be picking up the seats saturday if they have a good set.

like i said if all goes bad, i will be selling the seats for local pickup. im looking at buying the seats for 200-300... so we wills see.
clint

[55chevyman]

I like my bench seat only becuase it makes the cab feel very roomy and it allows another passenger. With that being said though, when i restore mine in april i am gonna be looking for buckets to put in it. Mainly for comfort. I have the plastic vinyl bench and i slide around sometimes and i hate that. and when its 100 out my seats are 110 and they burn my skin. So if i dont do buckets i will get cloth bench seat...But i am interested in how youll takle this because i might be doing it soon myself

[modular93fox]

like i said... i think i said... before i sold my 01 with the nice soft cloth seats with the fold down center seat, i took the drivers side out, and simply stuck it in the driver side area.. it was too high for me. thats with stock seat brackets which are hella high. the only thing i cant remember to save my life is the knee room. i'll worry about the steering wheel room later ;)
being 6'6" knee room and an angled seat is gona be the kicker, but ive got skills and im gona put them to the test on this project.
clint

[modular93fox]

well since im a doo-er i walked in and got (most of) what i wanted and some, walked out 150 less than what i had. i got 2 drivers side seat, one with the arm rest and one without, and 1 passenger side (no arm rest). the arm rest one is a donor, it will be donating the lower seat cover to the non arm rest seat which had a quarter sized cig. burn. i also snatched up a 97 dodge inst. cluster. as some of you may have noticed this setup in another thread i started:

http://teeharju.dnsalias.net/~timo/cummins_files/DSCN2197.JPG

if it doesnt rain, on me which it will since its my only day off and i want to work on my truck, i will make some progress on the seats first, then cluster..
anyway, thought i would post up some progress... im ancy about these seats... cant wait to get a sporty feel in this beast. after that, im gona see about a exploder rear sway bar :)
so that would make my truck a hybrid imbread whatchame callit / mut.... mostly chevy with a few dodge, and ford parts...
clint

[85-bowtie]

Nice. What kind of Dodge is that cluster out of?
btw; make sure to take lots of pics of the seat install :D

[FordeatinZ71]

well since im a doo-er i walked in and got (most of) what i wanted and some, walked out 150 less than what i had. i got 2 drivers side seat, one with the arm rest and one without, and 1 passenger side (no arm rest). the arm rest one is a donor, it will be donating the lower seat cover to the non arm rest seat which had a quarter sized cig. burn. i also snatched up a 97 dodge inst. cluster. as some of you may have noticed this setup in another thread i started:

http://teeharju.dnsalias.net/~timo/cummins_files/DSCN2197.JPG

if it doesnt rain, on me which it will since its my only day off and i want to work on my truck, i will make some progress on the seats first, then cluster..
anyway, thought i would post up some progress... im ancy about these seats... cant wait to get a sporty feel in this beast. after that, im gona see about a exploder rear sway bar :)
so that would make my truck a hybrid imbread whatchame callit / mut.... mostly chevy with a few dodge, and ford parts...
clint


oh man, that's awesome! glad to see you are taking this on, and this year even! can't wait until i get some disposable income (VA woot woot!) so i can be a "doo'er" too...can't wait to see pics...BTW, what kinda seats did you get, 99-up Silverado, right?

Nice. What kind of Dodge is that cluster out of?

that pic he posted is off the site devil's castle (i think that's it, that's why i didn't post the link) after the guy put the Dodge gauges in a C/K cluster.

the gauges he would need for that swap come out of a 94-97 Ram...

[modular93fox]

95-97 dodge (gas) cluster.
the seat install is gona be a hella bitcch. this is not gona be a bolt in kida deal infact its -100% bolt in. here is what i did to the factory bench seat: (and this is all mock up)
removed seat, removed seat sliders, reinstalled sliders to the cab.
i had some 1x1 16gauge steel tubing and i laid that on the back, and some 1.5 16 gauge tubing on the front to mimic the factory bracket seat track.
on the 99+ seat: i removed the lower seat cushion, removed the reclining mechinism (with cut off wheel becuase its got a rivit like bolt connecting the mechinism to the seat back) so now i have the lower seat and the back seperated. they will not bolt together becuase they are mising the frame (the frame that doesnt fit in the truck).
SO when i sat the lower cusion on the tubing, and threw the back in the truck too, it sat almost the same, maybe even exaclty the same as the bench seat did! which is great for me, and the rest of you who what this style seats. the down side is there will be hella fabbin invovled.. mostly cutting and welding, but when the time comes i will have pictures for that, lots of pictures. at this current moment i am looking to have a middle jump seat instead of a console.. but since i dont have one right now, i will try and space it out accordingly.
heres a picture of a carpeted panel i made for my truck... kinda nice and looks like a newer truck. i made it in grey to blend the seats in a bit better :) no mock up pictures... didnt want to spoil anything yet.
clint

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/1/1218154597.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=7480614)

[modular93fox]

yup, 99+ seats

[FordeatinZ71]

lookin great man...can't wait to see the mock-up and completed pics...

[44gmcnewf]

i got a pair of black buckets out of a first gen blazer poked away.

[FordeatinZ71]

wow, that's an awesome find as well 44gmcnewf!

[BHB]

I had 88-98 buckets (88) in my '85 crewcab. I will try to explain how it was done. This may work with newer seats, but I am not sure, I'll throw it out there.
No, I do not have pics of the brackets, it was twelve years ago.
I used the risers and slider mechanisms (intergrated) from the 88-98 seats, I layed out 3/16"x2" flat stock on the 85 floorpan, that went up from the front mounts (vertical)with more flat stock,went back toward the rear, and then down to the rear mount hole.(on reg.cabs I think you have to go up) once these 3 parts are tack welded together as one unit, you now the profile, or contour of the floorpan. I then figured how high I wanted the seats. Then I basically cut the original riser in half, using the flat stock base that I created as a template, and transfered that profile across the 88-99 riser, cut it to match the line, and then welded the risers on to the flat stock.
I hope this makes sense, It's been a long time.

http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee137/greggmartucci/Truck17.jpg

[FordeatinZ71]

those seats look really nice but they don't look like typical 88-98 C/K seats...were they perhaps an early 88 production and were phased out by the end of the MY? normally the "tucked" section is more in the middle and there is a flat section on each side...well, you know what i'm talkin about i'm sure...

[BHB]

those seats look really nice but they don't look like typical 88-98 C/K seats...were they perhaps an early 88 production and were phased out by the end of the MY? normally the "tucked" section is more in the middle and there is a flat section on each side...well, you know what i'm talkin about i'm sure...


:dunno: Old,worn out???:dunno:

[FordeatinZ71]

:dunno: Old,worn out???:dunno:


ehh, i suppose...they still look great in there...they just look like a different style...

[modular93fox]

ah finally i made some more tangeable progress. i have the drivers side seat fully bolted in. first impression.. **** the seat back is a tad crooked, but the average person wouldnt
notice. i didnt realize when i C notched the rear seat support/bracket it wasnt square. i know what to look for on the passenger side.
in a nut shell:
* i removed the stock seat, duh
*grinded off the stud holding the rear seat bracket to the slider, and drilled out the 2 spot welds on the same bracket then seperated the two
* laid 2 2x2 16ga square steel stock across the 87 silders eventually bolted the front 2x2 to the front using the factory seat bolt hole, ... im tired so and pictures will do more justice since there are more people like me... can do it with pictures! il take some pictures sometime soon.. maybe next saturday.

overall i think im going to like it... it sits a **** hair higher than the stock bench seat, i lost the ability to use the recliner, but the way its setup now, its just like the bench seat, it hits a "stop" and it doesnt go back anymore. ... lumbar and side support.... ummmmm.
clint

[modular93fox]

man, this is becoming harder and harder. i would say this seat swap is harder than the motor swap! so when i just laid the 1.5" square tubing on top of the seat sliders everything worked as it should, but it was a bit too tall for me. so i just re did it and made the tubing fit inbetween the sliders. fits perfectly but man its taken me about 4 hours to do one side, and im not 100% done with it.. geeze!
clint

[hilljob]

i have a 98 seat in my 72,but i am looking for a 99+newer.i just found out about this site,im sure i will be a pain in yall azz's
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/hilljob/orangetruck040.jpg

[modular93fox]

right, well i love the way the seat fits in the truck now, its just makes me mad that i couldnt finish today. with work m-f and school 30 hours a week (m-f) and work on saturday makes for a hella sunday! i will just have to take off a saturday each month so i can do more things that are fun, and not cram them in on sundays. next sunday i expect to have both seats in, and i will re-measure the middle jump seat in my dads 04. i cant remember if its 11 inches wide or 14. the space i have a gap between the drivers and pass of 11-12".
well till next sunday..
clint

[Xtremjeepn]

Not the best picture but here are some 2001 VW GTI seats in my old 74. Truck is no longer with us. Seats are now in an old Jeep.

Just fabbed some brackets for them.

http://www.t-mobilepictures.com/photos/photo18/92/62/094bf58b192f.jpg

[stkcode]

I don't have any pictures at the moment as I'm still installing the seats but I'm replacing the factory bucket seats with leather, heated/lumbar seats out of a 99 Yukon Denali.

Overall the install doesn't look to hard to do...but I did notice that on my 86 burb, that came with a factory bench seat, did not have the inner seat mounting tabs welded to the floor, like my 91 has (with factory bucket seats).

The denali bottom seat cushion is higher then the factory burb buckets by at least an inch. The denali seats also are slightly wider and off-center...as into the inner arm-rest side is wider then outer side of the seat. You can't use the original denali or factory bucket mounting brackets (slider rails), else the seat will be in the sky (too high). I could make a mounting frame from square or channel tubing...but the seat will still be too high imo.

The plan is to make 2 3-1/2 inch (per side) strips from 16 or 14 guage steel that uses the 4 original mounting holes on the inside of the floor board (like how the original slider rails mounted). Then mount the outer side of the seat completely through the strip and floor board (yes, the nuts have to be put on from underneith the truck). For the inner side, the floor makes a funky "S" shape...so the seat simply bolts to the strip...no holes through the floor board. The strip goes over the "S" indent, but the tab welded to the floor board needs to be trimmed. It sits higher then the hump under the seat, which leaves the insider side of the seat higher then the outer side.

Why bother bolting the bucket seat through the floorboard? Well, simply to lower it as close as possibly to where the top of the bottom original seat cushions where. The strips make it very strong, so where not just bolting the seat through the thin sheet metal floorboard and calling it a day. Which would be foolish and unsafe.

The biggest problem I'm having is getting one of the motors under the seat to clear the carpet. One motor hangs down further then the seat rails (with the seat on the original denali risers, this didn't matter), so I'm looking to see how well it will clear. Using thicker strips, possibly of aluminum for weight reasons, might be a reasonable solution. All it would be doing is raising the seat slightly for better clearance.

[modular93fox]

sweet, i myself an solving my issues and comming up with time problems. with work m-sat and school m-f i have only 1 real day of foolin with the truck. well this weekend was shot to chit. i took off work saturday so i could take def. driving, great. well i over sleep and miss it, and the weather was horrid! zero progress. sunday (today) i did the def. driving and rushed home to get very little progress.
ive managed re-re do the drivers side seat due to an inch.. yes an inch off centerness - the seat center line thats stitched into the seat wasnt centered with the steering wheel. doh.
fixed that, which also fixed the middle gap for the factory jump seat when i can score one. all in all this is being a pain in the rump. mostly becuase im limited to one day, and i have alot to do...
i still need to drop the fuel tank becuase i topped it off and started down the road, gunned it, and then hit the brakes pretty hard so i wouldnt run a soon to be red light.no biggie, but i smelta strong odor of gas. dont know why but gas was dripping from the tank and kinda formed a nice sized puddle??? dont know, but il find out next weekend.
:( clint

[modular93fox]

well i finally almost got this project rapped up. im still lacking the middle jump seat, but other than that the seats are fully bolted in. i still say this is the hardest thing ive done.. im not sure if its becuase it took 3 sundays to do, or what... it just seemed hard?? whatever right? its done and il take some pictures and get around to post them sometime.
clint

[85-bowtie]

any updates on this project?

[modular93fox]

ive got the seats bolted in and everything but the middle seat. i dont have one yet, but i have a spot for it!! ive been hella buisy between working and school. i was able to squeeze in 5 solid hrs of exhuast fabrication to get my exhuast just right on it. hopefully i will get some pictures this weekend.. hopefully i get my gas tanks in by this weekend.. if not, no biggie.
i kinda feel a tad bad for the no picture posts ive been doing... whoops...
clint

[85-bowtie]

Well if anyone cares I got the 99+ seats in my 85 today! I kinda went about it the wrong way though. I pulled the slider tracks off and bolted the seats directly to the floor pan. Not the greatest way to do it, but it works for me. I'm the only one to drive it so this way other people can't screw with my seat. :lol: Here are a couple pics. As you can see I have some finishing up to do with them and then get the rest of my interior put back in so I can drive it some.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a114/85-bowtie/85chevyseats003.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a114/85-bowtie/85chevyseats002.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a114/85-bowtie/85chevyseats001.jpg

[Superpug]

http://a359.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/110/l_054d04ec3eee8bfcbb2fa9c0d2bd9ac6.jpg

sweet projects. here is what I got put into my truck. I kinda wish i still had the benches though. these push up against my speakers to much.

[modular93fox]

i finaly got some pics
http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/4/1032015509.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/7982774)

http://img2.putfile.com/thumb/4/10320155027.jpg (http://www.putfile.com/pic/7982775)